“That’s what I’m trying to do. Trust me, the last thing I want is forthat guyto be in the spotlight.”
That only made Riley angrier, but she remembered the mission at hand. So, she took a deep breath, held the air in her lungs as she counted to ten, then slowly exhaled.
“And who do you want me with?”
“You know the answer. Rowan. There’s so much drama here!”
Riley opened her mouth to explain that Rowan needed treatment before his drinking became a bigger problem, but she knew arguing with Rita wouldn’t do any good. The greedy agent only saw dollar signs. She was picturing the real-life soap opera of the two young stars together while their behavior became more and more erratic. Never mind the fact that it would all be fabricated. The public would eat it up.
“All right,” she said. “Do you want to come by and talk about it?” A smile creased her lips. She had to fight a rising giggle.
“You’re going to play ball? That’s great! I didn’t want to remind you, but even though the picture thing is out there, I still have you under contract.”
If you didn’t want to remind me of that, you wouldn’t have just said it, you passive-aggressive witch.Riley kept that thought to herself though. Right now, she was going to catch this fly with honey rather than vinegar.
Instead, she said, “I just want to make money. The same as you.”
Rita must have liked hearing that, because she said, “What time?”
“Well, I’m not on the call sheet today, so I won’t be going into the studio. And I’m about to have some friends over, but they would love to meet you, I’m sure.”
Again, Riley nearly laughed.
Her friends were indeed excited about meeting Rita. But the joy of the encounter would not go both ways.
“I can be there in a bit.”
“Come over anytime.”
The call ended and Riley instantly made another.
It was time to have some fun.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“Hello, Riley. Darling, what’s… going on?”
Rita wore a perplexed expression as she stepped into the backyard of Riley’s Burbank home.
“Hey, Rita. Just having a party.”
“At noon on a Monday?”
Talking loudly as to be heard over the chatter of other people and the music coming from the sound system Stryker had set up, Riley said, “Hell yeah! I’m taking your advice. You told me to have a little more fun. Right? I’m young and I’m a movie star. I have some money. Why not?”
Rita looked past her, and the look in her eyes told Riley that this was not the kind of fun she had been talking about.
Littles were everywhere; floating in the pool, having a water gun fight in the yard, and dancing on the patio.
Iris, Cami, Samantha, Annika, and Lana were there, along with Harrison and Stryker.
But more had come in for Operation Brat.
Delegates from Mountainville had arrived that morning on an early flight from Texas. Harrison and Stryker had called them and let them in on what was going on, and eager to help—andalways eager to be naughty—they’d agreed to come right away to ensure the mission was a success.
So now, Eli, Katie, Stella, Chelsea, Penny, Leah, and Michael were there, making sure it was a proper Monday afternoon party.
“Are all of these people—Littles or whatever you call yourself?” Rita asked.
